MEMPHIS BLUES
W.C.Handy

as rec by The Rhythm Sisters w Ambrose and His Orchestra (1935)


We gonna take you down
To old Memphis town
To let you hear those Memphis Blues...

They've got a fiddler there that always slicks on his hair
Oh, Lordy, how he pulls on his bow!
And when you hear that tune,
Listen to the trombones croon...
They moan just like
A sinner on Revival Day,
Revival Day!

That melancholy strain,
That ever-haunting refrain
Is like a darkie moaning a song,
Here comes the very part
That wraps a spell around my heart
It's the very part
That wraps a spell
Around my heart
It sets me wild
To hear that lovely tune again,
Those Memphis Blues!

Honey I've been down to,
Down to Memphis town,
Where the people smile on you all the while
Hospitality, oh,
They were good to me,
Although I couldn't spend a dime,
I had the grandest time!

I went out a-dancin' with a Tennessee, dear,
A fellow there named Handy had a band you should hear,
And while they gently swayed, all those darkies, how they played
In real harmony!

Fiddler out there just slicks on his hair
Oh, Lordy, how he pulls on his bow!
When you hear that tune, listen!
Those trombones moan just like
A sinner on Revival Day, hmm...
Melancholy strain
With its haunting refrain
Seems to be like a darkie's song,
Here it comes, hmm...
That wraps a spell around my heart
And sets
Me wild
Again
Those Memphis,
Those Memphis Blues!



(Transcribed by Sir Isaac - August 2012)